There was one incident in which I was nearly eaten by a fearow, but I’m afraid I don’t particularly enjoy going into detail about that experience.
Luckily, you can apparently read a book that contains an entire chapter dedicated to this, should you be curious anyway.
Rowlet
The Grass Quill Pokémon
Type: Grass/Flying
Official Registration #: 722
Entry: One of three pokémon traditionally offered to new trainers at the beginning of their journeys in Alola. Generally a nocturnal pokémon, rowlet spends much of the day sleeping and photosynthesizing and is most active at night. This sleeping pattern of course makes it an ideal beginning pokémon for eleven-year-old children for whom the vitamin D obtainable via exposure to sunlight is essential in the development of mental and physical health.
Dartrix
The Blade Quill Pokémon
Type: Grass/Flying
Official Registration #: 723
Entry: The evolved form of rowlet, by battle experience. According to the Alolan pokédex, dartrix is “a bit of a dandy” who is “obsessed with preening its feathers and keeping them clean, sometimes to the point at which it may refuse to battle.” Incidentally, dartrix is also armed with an entire coat of razor-sharp feathers called “blade quills,” and it’s such an excellent marksman that it rarely misses anyone who calls it “a bit of a dandy” when it’s within earshot. (It also rarely misses anyone holding a pokédex that happens to call it the same.)
Decidueye
The Arrow Quill Pokémon
Type: Grass/Ghost
Official Registration #: 724
Entry: The evolved form of dartrix, by battle experience. Generally speaking, decidueye is known for its cool and collected demeanor. However, it’s also easily startled, and should it hear a sudden loud noise (for example, a twig snapping under the foot of a researcher studying it at a distance), it can easily fly into a panic. Incidentally, decidueye retains the impeccable aim and sharp quills its preevolved form is known for, and it has a tendency to only register what it’s shooting at after it shoots.
Wingull
The Seagull Pokémon
Type: Water/Flying
Official Registration #: 278
Entry: A large, seagull-like pokémon native to coastal regions. Among researchers who do not make their homes in coastal areas, this pokémon is known for its elegant, gliding flight patterns. It nests in high cliffs along the sea, and from these spots, it leaps over the ocean waves and rides updrafts high into the air. As such, it is sometimes known as the “kite of the ocean.” However, to those who have ever lived on cities on the coast (such as the author), this pokémon is known for snatching valuables and french fries from the hands of humans as well as defecating strategically on beachgoers, and as such, it’s known as “flying rat” and other colorful phrases and names the author cannot repeat in mixed company.
Pelipper
The Water Bird Pokémon
Type: Water/Flying
Official Registration #: 279
Entry: The evolved form of wingull, by battle experience. Known for its unique beak, this pelican-like pokémon is sometimes used as a messenger. In the old days, this was done by placing items, letters, and small pokémon in its beak, telling it where to go, and letting it fly. However, in modern times, it’s given a small mail pouch instead. The reason why is because wild pelipper feed by scooping food into its beak, carrying it off until it reaches a cliff, and tilting its head back to swallow, so thanks to instinct, a tamed pelipper’s delivery route tended to end the moment it reached a seaside cliff … of which there are many in its native region of Hoenn.
Gligar
The Fly Scorpion Pokémon
Type: Ground/Flying
Official Registration #: 207
Entry: Those traveling through mountainous East Johto should beware. In this half of the region, where gligar are native and abundant, gligar are known to hunt by leaping at prey, latching onto their faces, and stabbing them with their highly venomous stingers—a method that kills either through poisoning or suffocation, depending on how hard the gligar is clinging to its prey. However, in addition to this, visitors to East Johto should also be aware that this part of the region is the home of Gligarman, a franchise which also suffocates and jams itself into readers’ lives through the power of sheer merchandising.
Gliscor
The Fang Scorpion Pokémon
Type: Ground/Flying
Official Registration #: 472
Entry: The evolved form of gligar, by battle experience if holding a razor fang at night. Gliscor is an infamous sanguivore—it thrives by feeding on the blood over others. When it spots potential prey, it swoops down, snatches up its victim, and carries it off to its castle-like cavern homes, where it will bite down on its prey using its elongated fangs to draw out its blood. The whole act is considered to be one of the most elegant hunting methods in the pokémon world, with gliscor’s hypnotic, fluid-like movements. These movements are so elegant and hypnotic to some people that there are novels and folklore based on human-like gliscor, some of which add certain, bizzare abilities to the pokémon’s arsenal—such as the ability to sparkle in the sunlight.
Yanma
The Clear Wing Pokémon
Type: Bug/Flying
Official Registration #: 193
Entry: A large, dragonfly-like pokémon first discovered in the Johto region. Yanma is notorious for its flying abilities. Not only is it capable of seeing a full 360 degrees around itself (allowing it to analyze all potential flight paths and navigate around obstacles all at once), but its unique wing design also allows it to fly at high speeds, maneuver around sharp turns, and stop and hover in mid air. The first and last of those abilities—that is, the impressive flying speed, in combination with its ability to stop at a moment’s notice—are unique in the pokémon world and give yanma an edge when chasing down prey, fleeing from predators, and stopping to turn and fire a Sonic Boom at researchers attempting to approach it from behind.
Yanmega
The Ogre Damer Pokémon
Type: Bug/Flying
Official Registration #: 469
Entry: The evolved form of yanma, by battle experience, if the subject knows Ancient Power. Every part of this gargantuan insect pokémon is powerful. Its mandibles are capable of snapping through femurs, its wings can generate gusts of wind potent enough to uproot trees, and its six spindly legs are strong enough to pick up and carry an adult man. Incidentally, should anyone wonder where the author was for a week shortly after his first visit to Unova’s Pinwheel Forest—one of the few places wild yanmega can be found—the answer is “the hospital,” and quite obviously, this is an entirely irrelevant note that has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with any of these facts about yanmega or the above entry concerning yanma.
Well, there are certainly a number of fascinating stories about the Hoenn region, and a single post can’t quite do them all justice. For that reason, let this be the first in a (half-)week-long Hoenn special.
Starting with, of course:
Rayquaza
The Sky High Pokémon
Type: Dragon/Flying
Official Registration #: 384
Entry: According to Hoennian lore, this legendary dragon has lived for millions of years in the uppermost layers of the planet’s atmosphere, and because of how far high and how fast it flies, only recently (comparatively speaking) has humanity developed the technology that makes it possible to see Rayquaza in flight. Otherwise, it does not leave this part of the atmosphere except for when Earth is in imminent danger. Rather, it glides ever vigilantly across the sky, sleeping rarely and eating nothing but the tops of thunderclouds and incoming meteoroids. The author really has nothing funny to say about Rayquaza; he just thinks the idea of an eternal, meteoroid-consuming dragon flying across the edge of space is awesome.
Ledyba
The Five Star Pokémon
Type: Bug/Flying
Official Registration #: 165
Entry: A small, ladybug-like pokémon first discovered in the forests of Johto. Ledyba are actually notoriously timid. When one is separated from the rest of its swarm, it will lock up and drop to the ground, unable to move. At all times, it secretes a pleasant aroma in order to alert its fellow ledyba to its location and emotional condition; this scent causes ledyba to swarm around its kin until it feels comfortable enough to join them. Incidentally, it should be noted that this tactic does not work the same way for humans. Please note that spraying oneself copiously with cologne will, in fact, illicit the exact opposite response from anyone who surrounds you. The author may or may not know this from experience.
Ledian
The Five Star Pokémon
Type: Bug/Flying
Official Registration #: 166
Entry: The evolved form of ledyba, by battle experience. Because of ledian’s association with the stars (namely, that it gathers starlight for energy), some cultures believe this to be a highly lucky pokémon. Other cultures take ledian’s diminutive stature and affinity for starlight to be symbols of childhood. And still others, on some corners of the internet, “ship” ledian with the traditional symbol of bad luck, black purrloin, for reasons the author is sure makes sense in context, but he would rather not ask his magical girl-loving little sister for further clarification.
Mantyke
The Kite Pokémon
Type: Water/Flying
Official Registration #: 458
Entry: A sizable, manta ray-like pokémon native to the cooler seas of southern Sinnoh. Mantyke are often seen swimming within schools of remoraid. It’s not because mantyke eat them, of course. Rather, it seems that mantyke form symbiotic partnerships with the remoraid. Remoraid parasites that may latch onto mantyke’s fins, so the mantyke benefit from the relationship by having pokémon clean its fins as it swims. The remoraid, meanwhile, benefit from the relationship by seeing much of the world thanks to the mantyke. This is possible because cleaning the mantyke enables it to evolve, which in turn means the remoraid can cling to a much stronger and faster pokémon that can ferry them longer distances across the ocean. That and mantyke’s evolution, mantine, are known for breaching the ocean’s surface and flying up to 300 feet in the air, so the remoraid clinging to it can, quite literally, see much of the world before plummeting back to the ocean’s surface.
Mantine
The Kite Pokémon
Type: Water/Flying
Official Registration #: 226
Entry: The evolved form of mantyke, by battle experience, if the subject is in close proximity to remoraid. This elegant pokémon is known for its maneuverability. Not only can it glide through the water at top speeds, but it’s also capable of breaching the surface and leaping up to 300 feet in the air before diving back into the ocean depths. Scientists are not entirely sure why mantine breach; theories include for communication, for mating, or simply for fun. What is known is that it’s rather alarming to all parties observing a breaching mantine … including the remoraid that normally cling to the undersides of mantine’s fins (until it reaches a height of about 100 feet, of course).
Surskit
The Pond Skater Pokémon
Type: Bug/Water
Official Registration #: 283
Entry: The tips of this water strider-like pokémon’s feet are coated with an oil that assists in keeping surskit afloat. This trait works in combination with its long legs, which distributes the weight of its relatively light body in just the precise way to make it next to impossible for surskit to sink on its own. Consequently, no matter what it does—from hunting to sleeping to jetting along at full speed—so long as all four feet are spread out and in contact with just the surface of the water, surskit will be able to stay afloat. This, of course, makes surskit’s mating rituals some of the most scientifically interesting in Hoenn, seeing as surskit do this while floating as well.
Masquerain
The Eyeball Pokémon
Type: Bug/Flying
Official Registration #: 284
Entry: The evolved form of surskit, by battle experience. The second thing lanternfly-like pokémon is known for is its ability to hover and fly in any direction, thanks to its four wings. This enables masquerain to escape danger in any direction at great speeds. Of course, it hardly needs that skill, thanks to the first thing it’s known for: the giant eyespots on its specialized antennae, which give it the appearance of a menacing face. In dark or foggy conditions, this face can startle to death predators, prey, and most half-asleep researchers who came to study the mating rituals of their preevolved forms. (For science, of course.)
Well, I admit I was going to end Johto Week with an entry on both Lugia and Ho-oh, but how can I argue with this request?
(Besides, as the son of a kimono girl from a sect dedicated specifically to Ho-oh, I realize now that not dedicating a full entry to Ho-oh would be literally sacrilegious somehow.)
Bill … are you ever actually worried that Ho-oh will set you on fire for not worshipping it enough? —LH
Of course not. I’m well aware that as a human, I will likely be set on fire by Ho-oh either way. It’s just the principle of the matter. —Bill
All right then. —LH
Ho-oh
The Rainbow Pokémon
Type: Fire/Flying
Official Registration #: 250
Entry: The guardian of the heavens and reincarnation, according to Johtonian legend. Once the mentor to the Johtonian people (during its longest and period of peace and prosperity), Ho-oh roosted in the gilded sister tower of Lugia’s shrine, known today as Bell Tower. However, after Lugia became enraged at humanity’s violence and greed, it drew down the storm that burned Brass Tower to the ground, and Ho-oh, in its despair over the death and destruction caused by its fellow legendary and humankind, flew away to parts unknown on rainbow wings, leaving behind three beasts to act as its judges for the Johtonian people. It is said that Ho-oh will only return to Johto when it’s clear that humans and pokémon are capable of living in harmony, and thus, it is said that its subordinates, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, are destined to wander the earth, observing us for the day when we become worthy of Ho-ohs presence once again. In other words, Ho-oh’s legend is one elaborate (but true) story about why none of us can’t have nice things.
The Pokédex According to Bill 